Chapter 244
Unaware that the Duke and his company found their behavior strange, they continued their training with vigor as usual.
Although Boss Rush dungeons in the game era could be attempted multiple times a day with the mindset that failure was acceptable, in reality, a momentary lapse in concentration could lead to serious injury.
"Danger!?"
I managed to dodge with a quick backstep, but before my eyes, I saw steam rising along with a strange odor.
Before me stood the cause of that steam: the final boss of the slug-based Boss Rush, the giant snail Fort Snail, shooting acidic mucus from its tentacles.
This entity, which could be physiologically repulsive to some due to its soft, massive body, sturdy shell, and tentacles, occupied a quarter of the coliseum with its bulk.
One might think such a large monster could be wiped out instantly by Lady Esmeralda's magic, but this monster had balanced Health and Magic stats.
It was an extremely durable monster when retreated into its shell; without Amina's song pulling its vulnerable head out, our current party couldn't deal effective damage.
Right now, we had just attacked the moment Amina's song pulled its head from the shell, then barely avoided the countering acid attack shot from its tentacle tips immediately after.
"Heya!!"
Because Amina's song drew the enemy's attention, making it easier for us to attack, Nell boldly charged in, slashed through a tentacle, and struck Fort Snail on the side of its head.
The troublesome part about this guy was that after taking a certain amount of damage, it would reset all hate/aggro, retreat completely into its shell, and heal until recovered.
Its attack patterns were monotonous—only two types: acidic mucus and crushing with its massive body—and its movements were slow, making it easy to dodge and hit. However, its sheer toughness and the difficulty in dealing significant damage meant this monotonous pattern wasted time, enraging efficiency-focused players who deemed it a harmful, formidable enemy.
To deal with it, you either had to break the shell...
"I'm on center duty!!"
...or force it to generate enough hate or attention to pull its head out violently.
The center light and Amina's song were for generating enough attention to pull its head out before it could heal. Since entering this dungeon, we'd been facing monsters with this pattern, so she had been singing non-stop.
I could tell she was singing happily, never losing her smile, but sweat still beaded on her forehead, and her breath was labored. The golems protecting her were also under concentrated fire from the acidic tentacles, and they were swapping out the large shields prepared for defense, now down to their last spare.
"Time to finish this."
The main body moved slowly, and the range of the tentacles' acid attacks was fixed, making them easier to handle, but this toughness was the most troublesome part. Even so, we had pushed it to the brink.
"Nell! When its head comes out, use Power Swing to knock its head upwards!!""! Understood!""Lady Esmeralda! The moment the head is out, please eliminate the tentacles!! Don't hold back on mana!!""Understood!! I shall use all my magic power!""Lady Claudia, once Nell knocks the head up, focus your attacks on its neck to lower its physical defense as much as possible.""Leave it to me."
If I spammed Gold Smash, I'd run out of money. Therefore, we had to whittle its HP down to a level where a single sure-kill strike was possible. Beheading it would be the most cost-effective, but this thing had instant death resistance, so even if I severed its neck, it wouldn't die in one hit—the damage would go through, but it wouldn't be fatal.
An incarnation of vitality. Its body was elongated, not exactly neck-like, but at least it had a part classified as a neck, which was somewhat manageable.
"! Everyone, please step back!"
Then came the acid mist it spewed while hiding in its shell.
If Ingrid didn't step forward and use Air Clean, the entire party would inevitably take damage.
This acid mist, while seemingly a powerful attack, was actually a double-edged sword.
The acid mist not only tormented players but also affected Fort Snail's ultimate defense: its shell.
The official strategy guide method for defeating it was to trigger this acid mist, let it melt the shell, break it while it was weakened and brittle to create a weak point, then attack that weak point while it was hiding to reduce its healing and grind it down.
While that attack pattern guaranteed victory, it required us to endure a battle of attrition. Given the enemy's stats and the fact this was a Boss Rush, a consecutive battle mode, engaging in a war of attrition was tough. Our stamina was already depleted from fighting these inherently durable bosses.
Perhaps we should have chosen other bosses that could be defeated more easily, but among the many Boss Rushes, only about three from the first day were simple to clear. The rest either had class requirements we didn't meet or were highly dangerous dungeons.
We chose this dungeon because we knew the strategy pattern well and judged it could be cleared safely... but...
"The head is out!!"
I hadn't expected it to drain our stamina this much!Looks like I'll sleep soundly from exhaustion today!!
The moment Amina's song pulled Fort Snail's head from its shell, a blizzard instantly flew forth. Because its body was large, following up with a rain of lightning amounted to a single-target multi-hit attack, but the parts covered by the shell remained immune to damage.
Only the head was taking damage.Furthermore, these magic attacks reached the damage threshold, causing it to try and retreat again.
"On three!!"
The lightning had paralyzed its body, somehow keeping its head out, but it was obvious the head would retract the moment the paralysis wore off. The retraction speed was extraordinarily fast.
That's why, the instant the lightning stopped, Nell slipped underneath Fort Snail's head and activated Power Swing as if uppercutting its jaw.
With a loud *Dogon*, the massive head was sent floating into the air.
"Breaking it!!""Please do!!"
I started running to get under that lifted jaw, but Claudia overtook me with Lightning Step, getting underneath first and beginning follow-up kicks.
Not a single powerful blow like Nell's, but multiple kicks, stacking defense debuffs to deal damage while lowering the enemy's physical defense.
I barely reached under the jaw just as the damage was maximized, the paralysis effect was about to wear off, and it began to move.
"Mirage Phenomenon!"
I activated my clone, stepped in, and swung my scythe upward from below, extending it to its limit.
"""Beheading!!!"""
A triple simultaneous strike, an super-effective attack ignoring defense, aimed at the neck.
The attack gouged the neck, cutting through more than half but not severing it completely. Even after that, Fort Snail was still standing.
It was already starting to regenerate; so tough!
But, this is the end.
"Nell!!""Leave it to me!!"
While I couldn't spam it, I could use this for the finishing blow.
A single strike to blow off that nearly torn-off head.Nell swung down that golden, gleaming blow.
"Ten Thousand Zeni!! Gold Smash!!"
The head, already slashed and nearly torn off by the triple beheading from below, was ripped off with a sickening *Butsuri* sound by the powerful impact of Nell's Gold Smash from the side, separated from the body.
The severed head rolled away with a heavy thud, turning into black ash before our eyes.
"We won!!""We did it!!"
I raised my arm in a victory declaration, Nell cried out in joy, and everyone else relaxed with sighs of relief. Amina's song also ended perfectly on cue.
"And... we have to do this one more time?""Pretty tiring, right?""Yes, I understand why you said not to do it consecutively yesterday. And that this is meant to be done once per day.""It's a Class 5 monster, but its stats are practically Class 6. Still, its movements were monotonous, its attack motions easy to read... it's on the easier side, I'd say.""Easier side?"
Claudia, who was nearby, catching her breath, unusually voiced her fatigue, admitting the toughness was getting to her. The tough part about Boss Rushes was the consecutive battles with no rest. Being forced into fight after fight naturally demanded stamina.
Honestly, it's only manageable because of the regeneration effect from Amina's Cheer Song.
I thought it was an easy win, but Claudia seemed to have strong objections. I understand it's quite stamina-draining, but aside from that, it's easy, so from my perspective, it falls into the 'easier' category.
"Now, now, tomorrow I'll go on a rampage, so it'll be truly easier than today.""Really?""Yes, it won't take nearly as much time either.""Is that so?"
The next turtle-based Boss Rush is a dungeon where my true skills shine.Of course, this time, I might end up with my stomach sloshing from mana recovery potions.
"Alright! The final act for today!! Confirming the loot!!"
Thinking that, I smiled at the rainbow chest that appeared thanks to Nell's Luck Beckoning and approached it. Nell wagged her tail, smiled, and asked if she could open it, so I could only nod.
Fort Snail's rainbow drop items were quite useful, yielding valuable skill scrolls and materials.
"A scroll... two of them, and a magic stone.""SCROOOOOOLL!!!"
Honestly, either scroll would have been great, but getting both was even better. We had been challenging this Boss Rush for practice, but this was the first time a scroll dropped. I took the scroll Nell retrieved from the chest, saw the name of the skill I desperately wanted written on it, and couldn't help but grin.
"Is it that good of a skill?""Yeah, it's a really good skill."
One was a skill I could call mine without exaggeration.The other was useful too, but I was honestly unsure who to use it on, so I'd hold onto it for now.
"Look forward to tomorrow. I'll show you a great performance."
With this skill, I could further enhance the synergistic effects of my unique skill, Void Strike.
And so, we finished today's dungeon exploration. Combined with fatigue from the consecutive battles, everyone went to bed early that night.
The time limit for Ingrid to acquire her unique skill was down to one day, and the dungeon we needed to clear was the last one.Before sleeping, I used one of the skill scrolls I obtained today.
To confirm I had successfully acquired the skill, I opened my status screen, looked at it, grinned, and fell asleep.
Despite falling asleep excited, I slept surprisingly deeply, which probably meant I was also tired from yesterday's Boss Rush.
I thought to myself, tough dungeon bosses really are a hassle.
Today's challenge was the turtle-based Boss Rush dungeon.
This boss was also plenty tough, boasting Fort Snail-level toughness plus higher defense.
It also had high magic resistance, making Lady Esmeralda's magic less effective, but these guys had a critical weakness.
"This ends it."
Yes, unlike Fort Snail, they had zero instant death resistance.
"Incredible, you took them all out without being noticed."
Slow-moving monsters vulnerable to both beheading and heart strikes were, to me, like ducks served on a platter—complete with a bundle of long onions, a cutting board, a pot, a portable stove, butchering and cooking knives, and even seasonings and broth prepared.
The reason I could hunt the bosses smoothly today, unlike yesterday:
"Hate Down... yep, it's a convenient skill indeed."
The skill scroll from Fort Snail's rainbow chest yesterday.Its effect: a recast time of five minutes, a bit long, but it was a skill that reduced hate directed towards myself.
Without drawing any attention, I crept up from behind, ran my blade across their necks the moment they noticed, and beheaded every single boss.
This time, all I had everyone else do was buy time for my Beheading skill's recast time.During that time, I focused on recovering mana and conserving stamina so I could strike at any moment.
"An assassin who draws no attention... As a noble, I would absolutely never want to face one.""There are countermeasures against the skill, but it's rare to find monsters that possess them."
And the moment the recast time ended, I launched a fierce assault from their blind spot, completely devoid of attention.The surprise Mirage Phenomenon into Beheading combo severed all the necks protruding from their shells, making Lady Esmeralda, who witnessed the horror up close, smile wryly.
"And Ingrid, that's what you're looking for.""The red treasure chest?"
I approached the chest that should contain the desired item.